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Navigator
Navigation Panel All navigation nodes and subnodes, except for two that are permanent (Library and Music) and two that are automatic (Search Results and Devices), can be enabled or disabled via Layout Preferences. The panel is shown here with all possible options. Library Typically, the library encompasses all files in your collection. Multiple libraries are possible, but most common divisions are handled by library nodes and user-defined filters. Except for History and Bookmarks, all library nodes are mutually exclusive. A file cannot be in both the Inbox and the Music library, for example. Each node has its own unique features, explained below. Music This is where most of your audio files are likely to be stored. Anything added "to the library" goes here by default. The only exceptions are files with the iTunes Audiobook tag or the iTunes Podcast tag, which will cause them to be diverted to the appropriate node (but only when they are first scanned in). The most unique and powerful feature of the Music node is that you can subdivide it into categories that you create, called filters. See Filters for details. If you right click on this node, you will get some extra menu options (Choose Library and Open in New Tab are available for every node): If filters are hidden, you can choose a filter from the right click menu. If they are shown, you only need to click on the filter to switch to it. Here's an example of the Music node with a few filters ("No Filter" is included automatically): The red circle marks a spot where you can click to hide the filters again temporarily, the same way you open and close other nodes. Bookmarks Bookmarks refer to bookmarks in audio files, not internet bookmarks. They can be used, for instance, to mark your stopping place in an audiobook or podcast that you haven't finished listening to, or to mark a section of music that you want to refer back to. To create a bookmark, use the bookmark hotkey (Ctrl+D by default). If you use it once, then stop playback or start a new track, it will be saved as a start point and will play the rest of the track from that point. If you use it twice, you will create a start point and an end point within the track. You can create more than one bookmark in a track, but you must close one to start another. You will find each bookmark in the Bookmarks node, with start time and end time listed. You can play them like normal tracks. Podcasts The Podcast node is optimized for podcasts, of course. Each podcast is shown as a collapsible list, and new episodes are marked with a dot. The normal Configure Layout menu in the toolbar is replaced with podcast-related options: "exclude listened tracks" to hide old episodes from the list, "exclude tracks not downloaded" to hide episodes which aren't currently available. Right clicking on Podcasts in the navigation panel gives options to import and export your subscription list as an .xml file, to add a new subscription by URL, and to access a podcast directory. You can also find these options and more by right clicking in the main panel when Podcasts are displayed. Audiobooks The Audiobooks node functions basically like the Music node, except without filters. It is intended to separate Audiobooks (or other non-music files, if you wish) from the Music Library. Video You can use MusicBee to manage video as well as audio files. Videos scanned with the Rescan/Add Files command will be placed directly into the Video node. MusicBee will attempt to send the video to your default video player in Windows, or you can configure an external video player through Player Preferences. Radio The Radio node is designed to help you find and save internet radio stations. The built-in station directories come with a variety of genres for you to choose from, or you can enter your own search. Right clicking on Radio in the navigation panel gives options to import and export your station list as an .xml file or to add a new station by URL. You can find the same options by right clicking in the main panel when Radio is displayed, as well as the ability to hide the station directories if you wish. Inbox The Inbox is intended as a holding area that you can send your new files to from folder scans, downloads, and cd rips. This allows you to do any kind of review or editing that you'd like to do on them before moving them into your library. You can drag-and-drop files from the inbox to any other node, or you can select tracks, right click, and choose Send To > Music Library. You can also configure a hotkey for this command. History The History node shows recently played tracks, which by default are sorted from most to least recent. Search Results Search Results is a special node that appears when you do a search of the full library. It shows matches from all library nodes and marks each result with the icon for the node it belongs to. Search Results also shows the results when you do a temporary filter by middle-clicking. The node will go away when you clear the search box, if you searched that way. If it's a Custom Search or a filter, you can get rid of it by right clicking on the node and choosing "Remove Node". Downloads The downloads node appears whenever files are being downloaded. This may include podcasts, tracks saved from Auto-DJ streams, and tracks downloaded directly from the internet. Options relating to downloads can be configured in Internet Preferences. Playlists These can contain files from any of the above categories, so are not just subcategories of your music. There are three types of playlists: *Static Playlists (or just "Playlists"): the user adds and removes all tracks *Auto-Playlists: dynamic, automatically update their contents based on rules *Playlist Mixers (formerly “Radio Playlists”): chooses a specified number of random tracks based on criteria, then clears the list on completion and chooses more. Furthermore, MB situates the Now Playing List and the Auto DJ function in the Playlists category. Neither of these can be renamed or deleted. When viewing the Now Playing list, the Now Playing Panel will disappear from the right panel (or wherever else you have positioned it). You can add or remove tracks to this as if it were a playlist, and save it as a library playlist for future use (Right-Click > List > Save as Library Playlist). Internet MusicBee has a built-in browser, and this node is where your bookmarks are stored. By default you get Upcoming Releases (from musicbrainz.org) and Upcoming Concerts (from songkick.com), each of which has a special display in the main panel and some pertinent settings to adjust. You can add your own bookmarks by entering a URL in the address bar and using the bookmark icon at right-hand end: You must have at least one bookmark folder before you can add a bookmark. You can create, remove and rename bookmark folders using the right-click menu in the navigation panel. Computer A tree navigator for your computer’s folders and files. Here is the right click menu for CD drive, showing various CD and folder management options found in the Computer node: Any drive can be set as a virtual device (moved to the Devices section), which can be useful for tasks like syncing to a USB drive, making a library backup, etc. Virtual devices can be turned back into fixed drives much the same way. Choose Filtered Folders, combined with Show Filtered Folders Only, allows you to select only some folders that you wish to display in MusicBee. For details about the Rip CD command, see Ripping. Devices Only visible if a device is connected. Allows browsing of MTP and MSC devices, including playlists, podcasts and audiobooks. Images Right clicking anywhere in the navigation panel will bring up this menu, showing some image display options in addition to another way to open Library Explorer: You can only display one of the image options at a time. They are shown in the bottom portion of the sidebar, below Library Explorer if it is open, and will automatically expand to fit the width of the panel. Artist Photo will look for a local artist photo first, then search fanart.tv, then last.fm, until it finds a match. Artist Photo Gallery will scroll through images found locally, on fanart.tv, last.fm, and flickr. Now Playing Panel The Now Playing Panel or parts of it can be moved to the left sidebar. Doing this will disable the left sidebar image display options. Category:Layout Category:Out-of-Date